FiLCO GmbH and Airtrax Inc have terminated negotiations announced in May which would have seen Airtrax buy a substantial part of FiLCO's new forklift manufacturing business.

Airtrax president Peter Amico told Forkliftaction.com News this week that the financial requirements for the proposed buy-in were too great and too immediate for Airtrax to facilitate.

FiLCO purchased the bankrupt Clark Material Handling GmbH from the receiver in April. Airtrax's contribution, through a non-binding agreement, would have sped the re-opening of the Clark factory, and there were suggestions Airtrax would manufacture its revolutionary ATX-Sidewinder omni-directional forklift at Clark's Mulheim plant (See Forkliftaction.com News #106).

"By terms of the agreement between (FiLCO) and the German unions, the primary objective was to get the more than 250 employees back to work as soon as possible, to get the plant back in production," Mr Amico said.

"Because of the enormity of the project, going over new and outdated inventory, existing orders, new orders and the immediacy of the entire project, it became an objective that (Airtrax) was not equipped to fund in the short term."

According to statements obtained by Forkliftaction.com News, Airtrax loaned FiLCO four amounts totalling USD357,390 between May 5 and May 29. Airtrax demanded repayment of the loans on August 11, and USD365,435.75 was deposited on September 2.

Mr Amico said there was no animosity between the two companies over the failed plan, and hinted that the companies may cooperate on projects in the future.

FiLCO has resumed producing Clark forklifts and lifted its capital from EUR25,000 (USD27,112) to EUR1.25 million (USD1.36 million). Vice-president Stephan Schmitz said the company planned to produce 200 forklifts this month.

"Our customers are confident and have placed orders with advance payments for machines," he said.

FiLCO website - www.filcogmbh.com
Airtrax website - www.airtrax.com